Sola 1200 review

[Imla]

I've had my Sola Dive800 since january, and a Sola Dive 1200 since april. The 800 has close to 80 dives and as long as I remember to rince the connections with some vinegar once in a while, it has performed flawlessly. The 1200, I bought used from a buddy. Has been used on a LOT of dives. No problems.
Have regularly used them on 60-80min photodives on varying settings. They usually work for 2 dives.

I absolutely LOVE them!!

 

[drbill]

My second Sola 1200 has failed completely... again... after being at L&M for repairs twice now. Contacts have been cleaned. Both lights charged for the same amount of time at the same time (but, of course, using two different chargers). The bad light failed 15 minutes into my first dive yesterday. It had shut off and would not turn back on. Even the other light seemed to be having problems. After two dives (total on time of 80 minutes) the LED was cherry red. Both lights had their batteries replaced with the newer, longer life ones and the PCBs replaced as well. Looks like at least one of them will have to go into the shop a THIRD time. Inexcusable.

I have used L&M equipment almost exclusively since 2001. I've never had a serious issue with my prior housings or lights. Their customer support has been great. However, given this experience, I can't rely on the Sola 1200s as my primary lights when I travel internationally.

 

[Otter]

Bought two Sola 1200s in October of last year. Charged both and then stored until now. One turns on, the other is dead the charger doesn't seem to recognize the light as it remains with a green light on while the other is red as its charging. Disappointment as I head to La Paz on Wed.

 

[drbill]

L&M got my Sola 1200s functioning fine now. When the innards were replaced, tech support forgot to upgrade the battery chargers. Now with the 2 amp (vs older 1 amp) chargers, they work great. Love the lights as they are plenty bright even at 500 lumens for most of the video work I do (close-up), compact and easy to travel with and have a very uniform light field.

 

[promocop]

Do you use it on Spot or Flood at 500 for your CU video work?

 

[drbill]

Flood... great even illumination field

 

[Otter]

I happy to say a quick email to/from Tech Support got my 'dead' Sola 1200 back up quickly. Apparently they have a 'sleep' feature that, if the light is allowed to discharge to too low a level, prevents it from waking up to take a charge. Striking/stroking the terminals of the charger across the contacts 4 - 5 times will reactivate it. I was suspect that this was going to help me, but sure enough it dead. I suggested that they put that on their Support website -- we shall see if they do.

BTW, loved the lights in La Paz.

 

[grouchyturtle]

Since no one has posted here in almost a year can I assume that you're all finally happy with your Sola 1200s and haven't had anymore problems? I'm thinking about getting one to use as my primary light, and for shooting some video, and possibly trying it as a fill light for still photo (instead of using a second strobe).

 

[drbill]

Yep, I still love mine. Only issue is the corrosion that develops in the charging ports and that is generally handled effectively with a bit of vinegar every so often and a little fine steel wool.

 

[sphyrnidus]

The corrosion is less when the contacts are dry when charching. I had the same, but when I wait a little while and take care to charche when dry, there is almost no corrosion.